A sequence of programmes to commemorate the beginning of the nuclear age. At 2.45am on 6 August 1945 a Boeing B-29 carrying an untested uranium bomb took off from the US airbase at Tinan. At 8.14am the bomb was dropped above the city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people and injuring 80,000. Editor Alastair Wilson
News from the East
Memories of 6 August 1945 from eyewitnesses of the explosion.
8.00 The Birth of the Bomb
John Slater explores how for two years Britain led the race to build the Bomb. A Pier/Black Hill production
Followed by The Pilot's Tale. Col Paul Tibbets recalls events 32,000 feet above Hiroshima.
8.25 Hiroshima: Listening to Incense Richard Pascoe plays Japanese professor Arata Osada who compiled eyewitness accounts from children who had survived the Bomb. Kerry
Crabbe has woven their testimony into a recreation of the day.
Director Janet Whitaker Revised repeat Followed by A Hidden Agenda?
Professor John Erickson asks if the bombs were intended to subdue Stalin as well as the Japanese.
9.15 A Path to Salvation
Former POWs recall the dramatic impact the Bomb had on their lives. Producer Alastair Wilson
9.40 What H?
Christopher Andrew asks what if D-
Day had failed and we were still at war with Germany when the A-bomb became available in 1945? Producer Ian Bell
Followed by a reading of Einstein's 's Monsters by Martin Amis.
10.00 Aldermaston Days
Former CND marchers discuss their days on the Great West Road. Producer Alastair Wilson
Followed by Burt the Turtle. What to do in case of nuclear attack.
10.35 Bunker Mentality
Christopher Lee explores fifty years of British Civil Defence. Producer Julia Shaw
Followed by Requirements in the Shelter. A poem by Adrian Mitchell.
11.05 Cold Wargames
The Cold War as experienced by British squaddies based in West Germany. Producer Lindsay Leonard
11.25 On the Brink
Alexander MacLeod looks at the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 22 October 1962. Producer Paul Bajoria